Stay
by OncerinLoVe
Summary: Robin and Regina share that drink and he returns her heart.


Linear algebra is boring, OQ is fun. I'm sure a lot of people will write awesome heart returning smut, but I'll leave that to someone who doesn't blush like a 13 year old when writing anything you can't show in a Disney movie. This is my attempt at this heart thing. Be warned, any errors come from this being written in a two hour math class.

* * *

Since Henry was spending time with his new uncle, Regina finally decided to take up Robin's offer of a drink. Which is how she and Robin ended up on her couch sipping whiskey.

Putting down his empty glass, Robin picked up the bag containing Regina's heart.

"I believe this is yours m'lady."

He held out the bag and Regina put down her nearly finished drink to take it. She removed her dark heart and looked at it appraisingly, almost detached from the idea that it should be beating in her chest.

"Aren't you going to… put it back in?"

The concern was evident in his voice. Her heart grew visibly redder when he spoke.

"No."

"Regina you have to-"

"I want you to do it."

He was dumbstruck. Protecting her heart was one thing, but this was quite another. But he could tell she was sincere. She had already put her own heart back in this year when she was completely alone. Now she wasn't.

"I have no idea how."

"Just aim for my chest. I assume hitting your target is something an archer would be good at."

Days ago the remark would have been delivered sarcastically with a scowl. But Regina was smiling (and mildly intoxicated).

"I don't want to hurt you."

He couldn't help but remember his mistakes that led to Marian being put in harm's way after, in his mind at least, doing the same to Regina when he gave up her heart.

"You won't. I trust you."

Her voice had grown quieter, and it occurred to Robin that she wasn't just talking about her physical heart. It meant more to her than he realized that he had been beside her, fighting for her heart that day. The red glow was bright enough to obscure some of the black in her heart.

He held out his hands and she gave the heart to him. They locked eyes and the heart began to beat more rapidly. She moved his hands to her chest.

"Just push."

...

When the heart was back in her chest, Regina let out the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding and almost fell back with all the emotions rushing inside her.

"Are you alright?"

"It's just a lot to take in."

She picked back up the whiskey she had left and gulped it down. It burned her throat, but it was a pleasant distraction her from the intensity of her emotions. They sat in silence as Regina stared into space and tried to readjust to having her heart. At some point Robin had taken her hand and began circled his thumb on the back of it. She hadn't noticed when he had started, but she realized she found it quite soothing. She turned towards him and was surprised to find him watching her intensely.

"Stay."

"I'm in no rush to leave m'lady."

After a quick but intense kiss, their foreheads were pressed together and Robin unconsciously brushed back a strand of Regina's hair.

"Tonight," she replied, pausing for a languid kiss, "stay the night."

Inviting him to have that drink had always been a pretense. But with her heart back in her chest, it dawned on her that she wanted him emotionally as much as she did physically.

"Are you sure?"

Second chances were a tricky business. He didn't want to rush any part of this relationship. After all he had just put her heart back in. It was more than enough to process for one night. But he wanted her badly, and looking into her eyes he saw the same desire reflected back at him. So when she nodded, he put aside doubts and let her lead him upstairs.

…

For the first few seconds after he woke up, Robin couldn't remember where he was. He immediately took in that he had been sleeping in a bed, something he was not quite used to. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he realized that this was Regina's bedroom. He wanted to turn and look at the strange glowing clock but noticed that Regina's head had somehow made its way onto his shoulder. He was used to being in the open forest; he needed to walk around, to get some air. He carefully maneuvered Regina's head back onto her pillow and silently slid out of bed. He felt around on the floor for a few moments before locating his clothes and began to dress. He apparently hadn't been as quiet as he thought, because Regina began to stir. She was extremely groggy, but a realization quickly dawned on her.

"You're leaving?" she mumbled, eyes wide.

"I'll return soon."

He turned to walk out, but Regina, with surprisingly fast reflexes for someone still half-asleep, grabbed his arm.

"Please don't leave me." she whispered desperately.

She regretted how needy her words sounded the moment they slipped out, but was too frightened to give it much thought.

It was so easy for Robin to imagine her as a child in that moment. He could picture the wide-eyed, dejected young girl she must have been. He took her hands in his own and put his face on level with hers.

"I promise that I will be here when morning comes."

He lightly kissed her forehead and told her to go back to sleep before walking out.

…

It was an odd feeling not being able to come and go as he pleased. It had been so long since he had slept next to a woman. And even with Marian, it wasn't uncommon for either of them to go on nighttime wanderings through the forest. As he exited the front door and breathed in the cool air, he realized that he hadn't considered that Regina would care.

He could hear Marian chastising him in his head. _Of course she would care. You men really are astounding creatures._ He smiled at the thought. She was always the one to talk sense into him. _Don't waste your time out here thinking about what I would say. Go back to her. _

It was strange, this feeling. It hadn't occurred to him what moving on would be like. Until he had said so to Regina, he didn't think he had this kind of second chance.

He hadn't yet had the time to think about exactly what that meant.

He and Regina certainly weren't there yet, but she was someone he could see himself falling in love with. It was terrifying. He hadn't felt that way since meeting Marian. He felt an unexplainable connection to Regina. But was he really ready to let go? _You already have. _

It was that revelation that startled him. That he wanted to take this second chancs because he had moved past Marian's death. Now that this wicked witch was vanquished, he and Regina would have the time to discover what this meant.

The air was doing him good. After a few minutes of being engulfed by nature, he felt his crisis subside. When he returned to the bedroom, he was pleased to see that Regina was peacefully asleep. It didn't take long for him to join her.

…

Regina awoke and immediately stretched her hand out to the right side of the bed, her face still buried in her pillow. She was disappointed to encounter nothing. Her heart dropped; if her supposed soul mate wouldn't stay, then who would? Before she could lose herself in despair, she heard a voice behind her.

"M'lady this land has made you lazy. The sun's been up for hours," he remarked teasingly.

She turned to find Robin sitting in a chair next to her bed, holding her copy of Grimm's fairytales.

"It's barely 8 AM. I would hardly call that lazy. Why should I wake up at dawn anyway?" she retorted, unable to keep a smile off her face, despite her sarcastic tone.

She looked over and notice that Robin had initially been perusing a book about himself. He noticed her gaze and commented.

"I had no idea I was known in this world. Although I don't know where anyone could have acquired such inaccurate information. So I moved to this _fairytale _book," he finished in confusion.

Regina tried to suppress a laugh thinking about some of the more ludicrous adaptations of Robin Hood that this world had. If only he knew. She slid out of bed and instantly felt Robin's eyes roaming her body. She quite enjoyed the lust in them.

"Eyes to yourself thief," she said with a smirk.

She could tell that he wasn't complying with her directive, which only widened her grin. She made her way to her closet, and attempted to pick an outfit.

"So did you read my story yet?"

"First naturally."

"And uh… what did you think?"

She was acutely conscious of her newly returned heart as it beat a bit faster. She was a little worried that he might remember she was the Evil Queen and realize he was better off without her.

"Fairest in the land, most assuredly. Though you don't seem the type for excessive vanity and cannibalism. I gather the actual story is a bit more complicated."

Once again, she couldn't help but grin. Regina walked back into her room and was struck by Robin's gaze. She wasn't quite sure she'd ever been so aware of her heart in her chest. Getting used to feeling fully again was almost overwhelming. The smallest things, like Robin smiling at her, hit her like crashing waves.

"I do help you'll tell me what really happened someday."

His last words echoed in her head. Someday implied that this was _something. _But she didn't want to get her hopes up; she had been burned far too many times by people who just wanted to use her.

"What do you want?"

The question came out a bit more confrontationally than she had planned. Robin, not privy to Regina's thought process, raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Why are you still here?"

Yes he had spoken of second chances, but what did that mean? She realized that she wanted to open her heart to him. But she couldn't do that until she knew if he truly wanted the same.

"Are you asking me to leave?" he replied with a slight hint of anger, standing up. His expression was something Regina couldn't quite read. He had already realized that he wanted a future with Regina, and he wasn't about to have her turn around and run from it.

"I'm asking what you want from… this?" she answered, gesturing to nothing particular.

"You."

His voice had softened and his body had relaxed. She wasn't sure what to make of his answer. She settled for a few moments of silence.

"You had me."

It was the only response she could come up with. Years of loneliness had done much to erode her belief that she could be loved.

"I want all of you Regina," he said stepping towards her. "I want this," he continued taking her hand and bringing it to her chest where they could both feel her heart beating.

"Metaphorically this time of course."

A small smile spread across Regina's face.

"When you asked me to stay last night, I thought you wanted the same."

Her cheeks grew hot at the memory of her plea, her moment of weakness. She instinctively looked down, but Robin tilted her chin back up. He looked into her eyes, and it felt as though he was staring into her soul.

"I…I do."

She didn't know how this would end, but she looked over at the lion tattoo and let herself believe that maybe she would be happy after all.

* * *

While I sincerely apologize if you've made it this far and thought this sucked, but you were warned :)


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